Gated communities

Restless Soul
Restless Soul Posts: 805
edited December 2006 in A Moving Train
I'm just watching a show right now about these "gated communities" in the US, where lots of rich white folks are feeling the cities and choosing to live behind bars as it were.

Do any of you guys live in one and why? Why did you move there? Do you actually feel safe within one?

To me it sounds wierd and not appealing in the slightest personally. For the price of "peace and safety" there's a ton of rules to live by. It's like living in a 1950s small town or a geriatric community! But there's nothing for teenagers and poor working class people are frowned upon! (never mind any ethnic minorities!)

Anyway what is your view of these gated communities? One of the people interviewed was asked "what about the outside world?" to which he replied, "Who the hell cares, its in here that matters!" Is this the future of american society?
"We have to change the concept of patriotism to one of “matriotism” — love of humanity that transcends war. A matriarch would never send her own children off to wars that kill other people’s children." Cindy Sheehan
---
London, Brixton, 14 July 1993
London, Wembley, 1996
London, Wembley, 18 June 2007
London, O2, 18 August 2009
London, Hammersmith Apollo (Ed solo), 31 July 2012
Milton Keynes Bowl, 11 July 2014
London, Hammersmith Apollo (Ed solo), 06 June 2017
London, O2, 18 June 2018
London, O2, 17 July 2018
Amsterdam, Afas Live (Ed solo), 09 June 2019
Amsterdam, Afas Live (Ed solo), 10 June 2019



Post edited by Unknown User on
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Comments

  • hippiemom
    hippiemom Posts: 3,326
    Restless Soul wrote:
    I'm just watching a show right now about these "gated communities" in the US, where lots of rich white folks are feeling the cities and choosing to live behind bars as it were.

    Do any of you guys live in one and why? Why did you move there? Do you actually feel safe within one?

    To me it sounds wierd and not appealing in the slightest personally. For the price of "peace and safety" there's a ton of rules to live by. It's like living in a 1950s small town or a geriatric community! But there's nothing for teenagers and poor working class people are frowned upon!

    Anyway what is your view of these gated communities? One of the people interviewed was asked "what about the outside world?" to which he replied, "Who the hell cares, its in here that matters!" Is this the future of american society?
    I certainly hope not. I've been to a few, and they're awful. Some of the regulations can be ridiculous, down to what flowers you can plant in your yard. They absolutely reek of conformity. The really depressing thing is that they look like movie sets ... everything is picture perfect, but there's no sign that anyone actually lives there. I always find myself with an urge to run around the neighborhood opening garage doors, spreading hoses across lawns, leaving tricycles sitting in driveways, putting child-made construction paper creations in the windows, and cranking up some music somewhere. I find the sterile atmosphere to be depressing.
    "Nothing in the world is more dangerous than sincere ignorance and conscientious stupidity." ~ MLK, 1963
  • Jeanwah
    Jeanwah Posts: 6,363
    Perfection. That's probably what people who live in gated communities want, and they get it there. Everything in gated communities look so perfect, it's eerie. That, and they're probably paranoid about their personal security.
  • surferdude
    surferdude Posts: 2,057
    hippiemom wrote:
    Some of the regulations can be ridiculous,...
    Are you talking about NYC's banning of trans-fat or something else? ;)
    “One good thing about music,
    when it hits you, you feel to pain.
    So brutalize me with music.”
    ~ Bob Marley
  • mammasan
    mammasan Posts: 5,656
    There is one a few towns over from where I live. It looks nice but yoe are living ontop of the person next to you. There is no space, no yards. I couldn't live in a place like that.
    "When one gets in bed with government, one must expect the diseases it spreads." - Ron Paul
  • Ahnimus
    Ahnimus Posts: 10,560
    That reminds me of a really weird dream, or at least I think it was a dream. It could have been a movie. It was like a gated community, but it was really just a mansion with a gate around it. I was a child being held captive and abused along with dozens of other children. If someone tried to escape they would throw the child into a pit of rabid wolves and would be torn to shreds.

    I eventually escaped with a young girl, I think she was supposed to be my sister or something. We contacted the authorities but nothing could be done to stop them. I hoped to have the dream again so I could rescue all the children. Pretty fucked up, but it was just a dream.
    I necessarily have the passion for writing this, and you have the passion for condemning me; both of us are equally fools, equally the toys of destiny. Your nature is to do harm, mine is to love truth, and to make it public in spite of you. - Voltaire
  • norm
    norm Posts: 31,146
    hippiemom wrote:
    I certainly hope not. I've been to a few, and they're awful. Some of the regulations can be ridiculous, down to what flowers you can plant in your yard. They absolutely reek of conformity. The really depressing thing is that they look like movie sets ... everything is picture perfect, but there's no sign that anyone actually lives there. I always find myself with an urge to run around the neighborhood opening garage doors, spreading hoses across lawns, leaving tricycles sitting in driveways, putting child-made construction paper creations in the windows, and cranking up some music somewhere. I find the sterile atmosphere to be depressing.
    You crack me up!:D

    The gated community is only as good as it's homeowners association. And every HOA sucks because invariably there are run by nosy, annoying people who love the power rush. Case in point
    http://forums.pearljam.com/showthread.php?t=224399&highlight=denver
  • catefrances
    catefrances Posts: 29,003
    Ahnimus wrote:
    That reminds me of a really weird dream, or at least I think it was a dream. It could have been a movie. It was like a gated community, but it was really just a mansion with a gate around it. I was a child being held captive and abused along with dozens of other children. If someone tried to escape they would throw the child into a pit of rabid wolves and would be torn to shreds.

    I eventually escaped with a young girl, I think she was supposed to be my sister or something. We contacted the authorities but nothing could be done to stop them. I hoped to have the dream again so I could rescue all the children. Pretty fucked up, but it was just a dream.

    the little girl was you ahnimus. she is your conscience and the saving you will be doing will be of yourself. the gated community is your life or maybe our society. that's what the dream is about.
    hear my name
    take a good look
    this could be the day
    hold my hand
    lie beside me
    i just need to say
  • mammasan
    mammasan Posts: 5,656
    catefrances wrote:
    the little girl was you ahnimus. she is your conscience and the saving you will be doing will be of yourself. the gated community is your life or maybe our society. that's what the dream is about.

    Holy Freud, Batman. That was pretty deep.
    "When one gets in bed with government, one must expect the diseases it spreads." - Ron Paul
  • Restless Soul
    Restless Soul Posts: 805
    Apparently Canyon Lake is supposed to be the safest gated community around but crime had risen within it and rapes have doubled!
    "We have to change the concept of patriotism to one of “matriotism” — love of humanity that transcends war. A matriarch would never send her own children off to wars that kill other people’s children." Cindy Sheehan
    ---
    London, Brixton, 14 July 1993
    London, Wembley, 1996
    London, Wembley, 18 June 2007
    London, O2, 18 August 2009
    London, Hammersmith Apollo (Ed solo), 31 July 2012
    Milton Keynes Bowl, 11 July 2014
    London, Hammersmith Apollo (Ed solo), 06 June 2017
    London, O2, 18 June 2018
    London, O2, 17 July 2018
    Amsterdam, Afas Live (Ed solo), 09 June 2019
    Amsterdam, Afas Live (Ed solo), 10 June 2019



  • catefrances
    catefrances Posts: 29,003
    mammasan wrote:
    Holy Freud, Batman. That was pretty deep.

    i have my moments. :)
    hear my name
    take a good look
    this could be the day
    hold my hand
    lie beside me
    i just need to say
  • mammasan
    mammasan Posts: 5,656
    catefrances wrote:
    i have my moments. :)

    Well that must have been a good moment.
    "When one gets in bed with government, one must expect the diseases it spreads." - Ron Paul
  • Ahnimus
    Ahnimus Posts: 10,560
    catefrances wrote:
    the little girl was you ahnimus. she is your conscience and the saving you will be doing will be of yourself. the gated community is your life or maybe our society. that's what the dream is about.

    I don't think so, I was viewing it from the perspective of someone trying to get out alongside the girl. It was pretty weird because all the kids were in these tiny little rooms with really small doors about 2 feet high. I must have been an older kid, I ducked into one of the rooms and saw a little boy just staring blankly at the wall. He didn't even flinch when I entered. It was pretty twisted. This was while I was reading that developmental psychology book though.
    I necessarily have the passion for writing this, and you have the passion for condemning me; both of us are equally fools, equally the toys of destiny. Your nature is to do harm, mine is to love truth, and to make it public in spite of you. - Voltaire
  • catefrances
    catefrances Posts: 29,003
    Ahnimus wrote:
    I don't think so, I was viewing it from the perspective of someone trying to get out alongside the girl. It was pretty weird because all the kids were in these tiny little rooms with really small doors about 2 feet high. I must have been an older kid, I ducked into one of the rooms and saw a little boy just staring blankly at the wall. He didn't even flinch when I entered. It was pretty twisted. This was while I was reading that developmental psychology book though.

    still fits ahnimus.
    the fact the rooms were so small is indicative of how suffocating society is and how crushing conventionality is. the way out may be small but you do get out to be confronted by this small boy staring blankly at the wall. which means you are unsure of what to do with your new found freedom. you can't quite cut that final string.
    hear my name
    take a good look
    this could be the day
    hold my hand
    lie beside me
    i just need to say
  • mammasan
    mammasan Posts: 5,656
    catefrances wrote:
    still fits ahnimus.
    the fact the rooms were so small is indicative of how suffocating society is and how crushing conventionality is. the way out may be small but you do get out to be confronted by this small boy staring blankly at the wall. which means you are unsure of what to do with your new found freedom. you can't quite cut that final string.

    Are you a psychiotrist or therapist.
    "When one gets in bed with government, one must expect the diseases it spreads." - Ron Paul
  • catefrances
    catefrances Posts: 29,003
    mammasan wrote:
    Are you a psychiotrist or therapist.

    no. i'm just full of shit. :D
    hear my name
    take a good look
    this could be the day
    hold my hand
    lie beside me
    i just need to say
  • mammasan
    mammasan Posts: 5,656
    catefrances wrote:
    no. i'm just full of shit. :D

    Well that's some good shit.
    "When one gets in bed with government, one must expect the diseases it spreads." - Ron Paul
  • redrock
    redrock Posts: 18,341
    catefrances wrote:
    no. i'm just full of shit. :D

    muaaaahahahaha.... almost wet myself there! :D:D:D
  • Ahnimus
    Ahnimus Posts: 10,560
    catefrances wrote:
    still fits ahnimus.
    the fact the rooms were so small is indicative of how suffocating society is and how crushing conventionality is. the way out may be small but you do get out to be confronted by this small boy staring blankly at the wall. which means you are unsure of what to do with your new found freedom. you can't quite cut that final string.[/quote

    You may be right, but I think it has more to do with my concern for young children.
    I necessarily have the passion for writing this, and you have the passion for condemning me; both of us are equally fools, equally the toys of destiny. Your nature is to do harm, mine is to love truth, and to make it public in spite of you. - Voltaire
  • FinsburyParkCarrots
    FinsburyParkCarrots Seattle, WA Posts: 12,223
    Restless Soul wrote:
    I'm just watching a show right now about these "gated communities" in the US, where lots of rich white folks are feeling the cities and choosing to live behind bars as it were.

    Do any of you guys live in one and why? Why did you move there? Do you actually feel safe within one?

    To me it sounds wierd and not appealing in the slightest personally. For the price of "peace and safety" there's a ton of rules to live by. It's like living in a 1950s small town or a geriatric community! But there's nothing for teenagers and poor working class people are frowned upon! (never mind any ethnic minorities!)

    Anyway what is your view of these gated communities? One of the people interviewed was asked "what about the outside world?" to which he replied, "Who the hell cares, its in here that matters!" Is this the future of american society?

    There's one around the corner. Occasionally people emerge, in local pubs, very palefaced and shaken. I think they're looking for new recruits, for their swinger orgies, but once you get locked in, you're locked forever ... they stay alone together, and as sad as damp twiglets on the lemonade-splashed ashtray of despair.
  • MrBrian
    MrBrian Posts: 2,672
    something you'll notice about the gates "protecting" these communities, the code most often is a basic "1234", i'm serious, try it out.

    Nothing really safe about them, they just make people think they can't get hurt.

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